A Refractor telescope collects light with a glass lens and magnification is done by the eyepiece. The image is inverted but this is not a problem for celestial objects.
Most Refractor telescopes have a long tube with the objective lens in the front and an eyepiece on the narrow end. The first telescope ever made by the Dutch and used by Galileo was a refractor.
The advantage of a refractor telescope is that they offer very crisp views with pinpoint stars and a sharp focus. They are excellent telescopes for viewing the planets, moon, double stars, bright star clusters, and for astrophotography. Another advantage is that you do not have to align any parts which makes them very easy to use. The disadvantage of a refractor is that building a large lens over 4 inches in diameter is very expensive. A smaller lens means they are limited to how much light they can collect. If you want to view very faint nebulas and galaxies, a reflector telescope that uses a large mirror would probably be better.
Check out some amazing Astrophotos taken with a 4 inch Takahashi Refractor Telescope.
Below is a typical Refractor Telescope
Diagrams on how a Refractor collects light
The largest Refractor: 40 inch Yerkes Telescope
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